BOYLE-ING POINT: Rangers coach John Tortorella moved checking center Brian Boyle — knocking down Justin Abdelkader in Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over the Red Wings — on a line with Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov.Getty Images

The Rangers are on twin tracks entering the final nine matches and two weeks of the season, both attempting to capture first place in the Eastern Conference while honing their game for the playoffs.

These of course are not mutually exclusive objectives, because if the Rangers play well enough to stay in front of the Penguins, they will be entering the postseason on a roll.

Still, head coach John Tortorella has made it clear time and time again that his primary focus is on the means rather than the end.

This makes his decision Wednesday night to go without a checking line against the Red Wings by moving putative checking center Brian Boyle between Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov while shifting one of his customary wingers, Brandon Prust, to the fourth line while scratching the other, Ruslan Fedotenko, an interesting one.

It remains to be seen whether — and for how long — Tortorella will maintain the same alignment starting with tonight’s match against the Sabres that will conclude a seven-game homestand whose success will be determined by this result. Finishing 5-2 and with three straight victories is positive. Ending 4-3 and with a defeat, not quite so much.

It is unlikely the Rangers will open the playoffs without a matchup checking unit, but the coach most certainly will do some mixing and matching in the immediate future to get an idea of what alternatives he might have once the first round begins — or in case injuries strike.

Tortorella had expressed frustration with the work of the Boyle-Prust-Fedotenko triumvirate, on more than one occasion suggesting the line had been on for too many goals against without chipping in enough on offense.

The unit had been minus two on the homestand (one goal, three against) and minus-three (four goals, seven against) in 14 games overall between its reconstruction on Feb. 24 when Fedotenko returned from post-concussion symptoms, through Monday’s victory over the Devils. That, however, includes a minus-three in Tampa when the trio was on for all three of the Lightning’s regulation goals in the Rangers’ 4-3 overtime defeat.

Boyle’s new unit created several opportunities off the rush in Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime win, but the center told The Post after it ended he maintains the same approach regardless of the identity of his linemates.

“No matter who I’m with, my focus is always on being strong defensively,” said Boyle, who has scored six goals following last season’s 21-goal outburst. “I’ve said a number of times this year that I’ve been frustrated by my lack of production, but that doesn’t change the way I need to play in order to be effective, which includes being physical, being hard on the puck, and being in good defensive position.

“I have to play to my strengths.”

Boyle, who continued to work with Prust on the club’s first penalty kill tandem against Detroit, has been the Rangers’ primary faceoff man in the defensive zone.

Over the last 20 games, the 6-foot-6 center has taken 60 draws in the offensive zone (winning 27) as opposed to 192 in the defensive circles (winning 103). When the Rangers defeated the Sabres 1-0 in a shootout in Buffalo on Feb. 1, Boyle took one draw in the offensive zone and 16 in his own end.

“When I’m on the ice and there’s an offensive zone faceoff, I just keep turning around looking at the bench,” Boyle said, laughing. “It’s kind of like, ‘You want me to stay?’”